Will You Believe?

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6

And then verse six says simply, that standing there looking at the stars, “Abram believed God.” He decided to trust God to keep His promises. He was certain, confident that God would give him a son. Romans 4:18 puts it this way. It says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed...” It would have been easier for Abram to believe what seemed certain, that he and his barren wife would never have a child. But Abram made the decision to hope against hope. He chose to believe that God is faithful. He chose to believe that He would keep His word.

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And the second half of verse 6 tells us that God credited this to Abram as righteousness. Abram wasn’t righteous mind you. If you read his story in detail, Genesis presents him as a flawed man. When he went down to Egypt he was so afraid of Pharaoh that he hid the fact that Sarai was his wife. He knew Sarai was beautiful and he was afraid they would kill him to marry her, so he let his wife be taken into Pharaoh’s bed to save his own skin. This was a despicable sin against God and Sarai. Then, years later, Abram did the same thing again with the King of Gerar, a man named Abimelech, only God intervened this time before Sarai was taken into the king’s bed. So, Abram wasn’t righteous. He wasn’t perfect. But he believed God. He had faith and God credited that faith to him as righteousness. In other words, because of his faith, God regarded him as righteous even though he wasn’t.

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This verse, Genesis 15:6, is picked up in Romans 4:23-24 and applied to us. It says, “The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

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You see, just like Abram, you aren’t righteous and you can’t be righteous on your own. But has chosen to credit righteousness to the accounts of those who believe. For Abram it was belief in the promise. For us it is belief in Jesus and the promises surrounding Him. Do you believe?

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Do you believe that Jesus is more than just a man, that He is the eternal Son of God? Do you believe that He lived a sinless life so He could become the perfect, atoning sacrifice for your sins? Do you belief that Jesus died on the cross to pay the punishment for your sins? Do you believe He was raised from the dead on the third day? Do you believe He ascended to Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty? Do you believe that He can save even you? Do you believe that He can set you free from sin and make you a new creation. Do you believe that one day He will raise all who believe back from the dead to live eternally with Him on a new heavens and a new earth where He will wipe away every tear and where there will be no more crying, death or pain? Do you believe that? These are all promises that God has made to those who believe. But you have to believe to receive this reward. You have to believe to be considered righteous.

Will you believe in Jesus? Will you trust God to keep Him promises?